Why Microbial Evolutionary Genomics?

Most of the genetic and metabolic diversity that exists on earth – and has existed for billions of years – is microbial. Arguably more impressive than the sheer quantity of microbial diversity is its dynamic nature: microbes are constantly evolving and adapting. Our ongoing research tracks evolving microbial populations in real time, using whole-genome and whole-community DNA sequencing to understand their evolution and predict how they adapt to changing environments. For example: